Posts By: Bonnie

Lover of tea. Crazed Bibliophile. Daydreamer.
I have a ridiculous love for the written word. I read anything and everything: Adult fiction, YA, Middle Grade, even the occasional Non-Fiction.

When I'm not reading I'm caring for my step-children, drinking obscene amounts of tea and contemplating what life will be like in the impending apocalypse.

Website Twitter Goodreads

Something To Look Forward To – Week of December 24th, 2018

December 24, 2018 Bonnie Something To Look Forward To 0 Comments

Here’s what’s releasing this week: a blend of YA, Adult, and the occasional Middle Grade. Something for everyone to look forward to! All book purchase links go to their respective Amazon page.

Help support this blog and use the purchase links to get your copy!

_________________________________________________

Week of December 24th, 2018

Dark Fire (Dark #6) by Christine Feehan [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 24th 2018 by Avon

Watching You by Lisa Jewell [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 26th 2018 by Atria Books

Ten Kisses to Scandal (Misadventures in Matchmaking #2) by Vivienne Lorret [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 24th 2018 by Avon

Dare to Love a Duke (The London Underground #3) by Eva Leigh [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 24th 2018 by Avon

_________________________________________________

Waiting on Wednesday – American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson

December 19, 2018 Bonnie Waiting on Wednesday 5 Comments

Waiting on Wednesday – American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson

American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson
Published by Random House on February 12, 2019
Pages: 304
Genres: Historical Fiction
Format: Hardcover
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Goodreads

What if your sense of duty required you to betray the man you love? One woman struggles to choose between her honor and her heart in this enthralling espionage drama set against an unforgettable historical backdrop.

It's 1986, the heart of the Cold War, and Marie Mitchell is an intelligence officer with the FBI. She's brilliant but she's also a young black woman working in an old boys' club, and her career has stalled out; she's overlooked for every high profile squad, and her days are filled with monotonous paperwork. So when she's given the opportunity to join a shadowy task force aimed at undermining Thomas Sankara, the charismatic, revolutionary president of Burkina Faso, whose Communist ideology has made him a target for American intervention, she says yes. Yes, even though she secretly admires the work Thomas is doing for his country. Yes, even though she is still grieving the mysterious death of her sister, whose example led Marie to this career path in the first place. Yes, even though a furious part of her suspects she's being offered the job because of her appearance and not her talent.

In the year that follows, Marie will observe Thomas, seduce him, and ultimately, have a hand in the coup that will bring him down. But doing so will change everything she believes about what it means to be a spy, a lover, a sister, and a good American.

Inspired by true events--Thomas Sankara is known as "Africa's Che Guevara"--this novel knits together a gripping spy thriller, a heartbreaking family drama, and a passionate romance. This is a face of the Cold War you've never seen before, and it introduces a powerful new literary voice.

About Lauren Wilkinson

Lauren Wilkinson earned an MFA in fiction and literary translation from Columbia University, and has taught writing at Columbia and the Fashion Institute of Technology. She was a 2013 Center for Fiction Emerging Writer’s Fellow, and has received support from both the MacDowell Colony and the Djerassi Resident Artists Program. Her fiction and essays have appeared in or are forthcoming from Granta, The Believer, and The Millions, among other publications. American Spy, her first novel, is a Spring 2019 Barnes & Noble “Discover Great New Writers” pick. Lauren grew up in New York and lives on the Lower East Side.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Top Ten Tuesday – Winter TBR

December 18, 2018 Bonnie Top Ten Tuesday 15 Comments

It’s not even 2019 yet and I’ve already found myself buried in 2019 review books. There are worse problems to have, I know. While trying to make a schedule to stay on top of publication dates and to try to find a happy medium when it comes to balancing my backlist, I’ve come up with this list of ten for my Winter TBR. Meaning my TBR for the entire season, so in theory, I should be able to accomplish this. Stay tuned. 😉

Review Books

Miraculum by Steph Post | Expected publication: January 22nd 2019 by Polis Books
Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik | Expected publication: February 5th 2019 by Harper Voyager
The Lost Man by Jane Harper | Expected publication: February 5th 2019 by Flatiron Books
The Huntress by Kate Quinn | Expected publication: February 26th 2019 by William Morrow Paperbacks
A Friend is a Gift You Give Yourself: A Novel by William Boyle | Expected publication: March 5th 2019 by Pegasus Books

Backlist Books

Like Lions (Bull Mountain #2) by Brian Panowich
The Hammer of Thor (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #2) by Rick Riordan
Dating You / Hating You by Christina Lauren
Everything Changes by Jonathan Tropper
Before the Devil Breaks You (The Diviners #3) by Libba Bray

Something To Look Forward To – Week of December 17th, 2018

December 17, 2018 Bonnie Something To Look Forward To 0 Comments

Here’s what’s releasing this week: a blend of YA, Adult, and the occasional Middle Grade. Something for everyone to look forward to! All book purchase links go to their respective Amazon page.

Help support this blog and use the purchase links to get your copy!

_________________________________________________

Week of December 17th, 2018

The Cursed Sea (The Glass Spare #2) by Lauren DeStefano [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 18th 2018 by Balzer + Bray

The Disasters by M.K. England [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 18th 2018 by HarperCollins

My Almost Flawless Tokyo Dream Life by Rachel Cohn [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 18th 2018 by Disney-Hyperion

Kiss Collector by Wendy Higgins [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 18th 2018 by HarperTeen

Dear Heartbreak: YA Authors and Teens on the Dark Side of Love by Heather Demetrios [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 18th 2018 by Henry Holt & Company

A Thunder of War (The Avalon Chronicles #3) by Steve McHugh [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 18th 2018 by 47North

Hunting Annabelle by Wendy Heard [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 18th 2018 by MIRA Books

Sins as Scarlet (Inspector Iwata #2) by Nicolás Obregón [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 18th 2018 by Minotaur Books

Safe and Sound (Sisterhood #29) by Fern Michaels [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 18th 2018 by Zebra

Not the Duke’s Darling (The Greycourt #1) by Elizabeth Hoyt [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 18th 2018 by Forever

Influenza: The Hundred Year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History by Jeremy Brown [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 18th 2018 by Touchstone

_________________________________________________

Top Ten Tuesday – Top Priority Backlist

December 11, 2018 Bonnie Top Ten Tuesday 5 Comments

Today is a freebie post so I’m writing about backlist books (original post from November 6th) that I want to prioritize. Most people, when they find an author they love they’ll run through everything else they’ve written. I am not one of those people. I’ll read something I love, add everything else they’ve written to my TBR, and then promptly forget about them. The hazards of being a book reviewer, I have a tendency to focus on newer books and let my backlist TBR fall by the wayside. At least it comes up in a Tuesday topic and reminds me of all the books I have yet to read…

Here are ten backlist books that I’d love to get around to sooner rather than later.

Donna Tartt | Read: The Secret History, TBR: The Goldfinch
John Fowles | Read: The Collector, TBR: The Magus
Jonathan Stroud | Read: The Screaming Staircase, TBR: The Amulet of Samarkand
Jordan Harper | Read: She Rides Shotgun, TBR: Love and Other Wounds: Stories
Rachel Bach/Aaron | Read: Fortune’s Pawn, TBR: The Spirit Thief

Robert Jackson Bennett | Read: Foundryside, TBR: City of Stairs
Ruth Reichl | Read: Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table, TBR: Garlic and Sapphires
Sarah Pinborough | Read: Mayhem, TBR: A Matter of Blood
Sarah Waters | Read: Affinity, TBR: Fingersmith
Steph Post | Read: Lightwood, TBR: A Tree Born Crooked

Waiting on Wednesday – Recursion by Blake Crouch

December 5, 2018 Bonnie Waiting on Wednesday 6 Comments

Waiting on Wednesday – Recursion by Blake Crouch

Recursion by Blake Crouch
Published by Crown Publishing Group (NY) on June 11, 2019
Pages: 336
Genres: Sci-fi
Format: Hardcover
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Goodreads

What if someone could rewrite your entire life?

"My son has been erased." Those are the last words the woman tells Barry Sutton, before she leaps from the Manhattan rooftop.

Deeply unnerved, Barry begins to investigate her death, only to learn that this wasn't an isolated case. All across the country, people are waking up to lives different from the ones they fell asleep to. Are they suffering from False Memory Syndrome, a mysterious new disease that afflicts people with vivid memories of a life they never lived? Or is something far more sinister behind the fracturing of reality all around him?

Miles away, neuroscientist Helena Smith is developing a technology that allows us to preserve our most intense memories and relive them. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to reexperience a first kiss, the birth of a child, the final moment with a dying parent.

Barry's search for the truth leads him on an impossible, astonishing journey as he discovers that Helena's work has yielded a terrifying gift--the ability not just to preserve memories but to remake them . . . at the risk of destroying what it means to be human.

At once a relentless thriller and an intricate science fiction puzzle box, Recursion is a deeply felt exploration of the flashbulb moments that define us--and who we are without them.

About Blake Crouch

Blake Crouch is a bestselling novelist and screenwriter. He is the author of the novel, Dark Matter, for which he is writing the screenplay for Sony Pictures. His international-bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy was adapted into a television series for FOX, executive produced by M. Night Shyamalan, that was Summer 2015's #1 show. With Chad Hodge, Crouch also created Good Behavior, the TNT television show starring Michelle Dockery based on his Letty Dobesh novellas. He has written more than a dozen novels that have been translated into over thirty languages and his short fiction has appeared in numerous publications including Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. Crouch lives in Colorado.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

I really loved Dark Matter and am looking forward to this fascinating sounding tale.

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Top Ten Tuesday – Wintery Reads Recommendations

December 4, 2018 Bonnie Top Ten Tuesday 4 Comments

It’s snowing outside as I write this post and it makes me want to curl up with a blanket, a cup of tea, and a good book. Alas, I’m just taking a quick break from packing to write this so this will have to suffice. 🙂 I don’t read enough Christmasy reads to encompass an entire post, but I’ve read my fair share of books that feature snowy climates, so that’s what today’s post is about.

Here are my favorites in various different categories. Not necessarily Christmas, but definitely Winter.

If you’re looking for something snowy + Historical Fiction
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey [Purchase]

If you’re looking for some good ol’ Christmas horror
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill [Review|Purchase]

If you’re looking for something snowy + Southern Gothic
Sweetgirl by Travis Mulhauser [Review|Purchase]

If you’re looking for a good dual timeline story
Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio [Review|Purchase]

If you’re looking for something with a touch of magical realism
Landline by Rainbow Rowell [Review|Purchase]

If you’re looking for a heartwarming Christmas romance
Christmas at Tiffany’s: A Novel (At Tiffany’s #1) by Karen Swan [Review|Purchase]

If you’re looking for more Christmas romance
Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe by Debbie Johnson [Review|Purchase]

If you’re looking for something for a younger reader
Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu [Review|Purchase]

If you’re looking for something for an even younger reader
The Snowman by Raymond Briggs [Purchase]

If you’re looking for a hilarious tale of Christmas
Skipping Christmas by John Grisham [Review|Purchase]

Something To Look Forward To – Week of December 3rd, 2018

December 3, 2018 Bonnie Something To Look Forward To 0 Comments

Here’s what’s releasing this week: a blend of YA, Adult, and the occasional Middle Grade. Something for everyone to look forward to! All book purchase links go to their respective Amazon page.

Help support this blog and use the purchase links to get your copy!

_________________________________________________

Week of December 3rd, 2018

Queen of Air and Darkness (The Dark Artifices #3) by Cassandra Clare [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Margaret K. McElderry Books

All the Wandering Light (Even the Darkest Stars #2) by Heather Fawcett [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Balzer + Bray

Once a King (Clash of Kingdoms #3) by Erin Summerill [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by HMH Books for Young Readers

Fire and Heist by Sarah Beth Durst [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Crown Books for Young Readers

Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful by Arwen Elys Dayton [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Delacorte Press

Realm of Ruins (The Nissera Chronicles #2) by Hannah West [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Holiday House

Valiant by Merrie Destefano [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Entangled: Teen

What You Hide by Natalie D. Richards [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Sourcebooks Fire

Dare to Fall by Estelle Maskame [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Sourcebooks Fire

Splendor and Spark (Shimmer and Burn #2) by Mary Taranta [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Margaret K. McElderry Books

Never Evers by Tom Ellen & Lucy Ivison [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Delacorte Press

North to Benjamin by Alan Cumyn [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books

Legacy of Light (Effigies #3) by Sarah Raughley [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Simon Pulse

King of the Road (Brotherhood of the Wheel #2) by R.S. Belcher [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Tor Books

The Mansion by Ezekiel Boone [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Atria/Emily Bestler Books

Of Blood and Bone (Chronicles of The One #2) by Nora Roberts [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by St. Martin’s Press

Blood of Ten Kings (Guardians of Aandor #3) by Edward Lazellari [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Tor Books

The Darkest Captive (Lords of the Underworld #14.5) by Gena Showalter [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated

The Shattered Sun (Bound Gods #3) by Rachel Dunne [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Harper Voyager

Splintered Suns by Michael Cobley [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Orbit

Soulbinder (Spellslinger #4) by Sebastien de Castell [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Orbit

Before We Were Strangers by Brenda Novak [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Mira Books

Into the Night (Gemma Woodstock #2) by Sarah Bailey [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Grand Central Publishing

Murder at the Mill: A Mystery (An Iris Grey Mystery #1) by M.B. Shaw [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Minotaur Books

Keep Her Close by Erik Therme [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 5th 2018 by Bookouture

For the Sake of the Game: Stories Inspired by the Sherlock Holmes Canon by Laurie R. King [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Pegasus Books

The Dakota Winters: A Novel by Tom Barbash [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Ecco

Josephine Baker’s Last Dance by Sherry Jones [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Gallery Books

The Three Secret Cities (Jack West Jr #5) by Matthew Reilly [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Gallery Books

Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Atria/Emily Bestler Books

The Accidental Beauty Queen by Teri Wilson[Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Gallery Books

My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Gallery Books

Radiant Shimmering Light by Sarah Selecky [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Bloomsbury Publishing

North of Dawn: A Novel by Nuruddin Farah [Purchase]
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Riverhead Books

_________________________________________________

Early Review – An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen

November 29, 2018 Bonnie Adult, Book Reviews, Early Review, Read in 2018 4 Comments

I received this book free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Early Review – An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks, Sarah Pekkanen
Published by St. Martin's Press on January 8, 2019
Pages: 384
Genres: Mystery
Format: ARC
Source: the Publisher
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Audible
Goodreads

three-stars

The next novel of psychological suspense and obsession from the authors of the blockbuster bestseller The Wife Between Us

Seeking women ages 18–32 to participate in a study on ethics and morality. Generous compensation. Anonymity guaranteed.

When Jessica Farris signs up for a psychology study conducted by the mysterious Dr. Shields, she thinks all she’ll have to do is answer a few questions, collect her money, and leave. But as the questions grow more and more intense and invasive and the sessions become outings where Jess is told what to wear and how to act, she begins to feel as though Dr. Shields may know what she’s thinking…and what she’s hiding. As Jess’s paranoia grows, it becomes clear that she can no longer trust what in her life is real, and what is one of Dr. Shields’ manipulative experiments. Caught in a web of deceit and jealousy, Jess quickly learns that some obsessions can be deadly.

From the authors of the blockbuster bestseller The Wife Between Us comes an electrifying new novel about doubt, passion, and just how much you can trust someone.

“We all have reasons for our actions. Even if we hide the reason from those who think they know us best. Even if the reasons are so deeply buried we can’t recognize them ourselves.”

Jessica Farris is a makeup artist in New York City and when she overhears information about a psychological study for some quick cash she finds a way to get into it. Sitting in an empty room she answers questions on a computer on ethics and morality. She’s prompted to be as honest as possible and she is; she has no reason not to be. This is an anonymous study after all where she is referred to only as Subject 52. She’s generously paid and when the individual in charge of the study, Dr. Shields, dangles the carrot of further payment if she continues the study outside of the classroom she accepts. The things Jess is asked to do are slightly unnerving and confusing, unsure how it has anything to do with ethics and morality, but the desire to help her struggling family out is more than enough incentive to quiet the discontent in her mind. The more studies she completes though, the more the discontent grows.

Most mysteries these days tend to count on unreliable narrators to keep the reader guessing. In the end, you’re thrown a curveball of an answer that causes you to question the hundreds of pages you’ve just consumed. It can be just as fun to work your way back through the story, reevaluating everything you assumed but now with a new understanding. That’s what I enjoyed most about An Anonymous Girl, you think you know exactly what’s going on, and you might be right, but there’s just enough uncertainty that you can’t be sure, so you keep reading. Alas, the lead up was great, but the ending wasn’t quite the shocker that I had anticipated and felt a little too ‘easy’ of a conclusion when compared to the chaos that led up to it. I sometimes feel that by reading too many mysteries that I’m dulling any future enjoyment, that I become too adept at deciphering what’s truly going on. Or maybe this was simply a mediocre mystery.

For more unreliable narrators…

Night Film by Marisha Pessl [Purchased|Review]
The Panopticon by Jenni Fagan [Purchased|Review]
Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough [Purchased|Review]

Waiting on Wednesday – The Mastermind: Drugs. Empire. Murder. Betrayal. by Evan Ratliff

November 28, 2018 Bonnie Waiting on Wednesday 9 Comments

Waiting on Wednesday – The Mastermind: Drugs. Empire. Murder. Betrayal. by Evan Ratliff

The Mastermind: Drugs. Empire. Murder. Betrayal. by Evan Ratliff
Published by Random House on March 5, 2019
Pages: 496
Genres: True Crime
Format: Hardcover
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Goodreads

The incredible true story of the decade-long quest to bring down Paul Le Roux—the creator of a frighteningly powerful Internet-enabled cartel who merged the ruthlessness of a drug lord with the technological savvy of a Silicon Valley entrepreneur

It all started as an online prescription drug network, supplying hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of painkillers to American customers. It would not stop there. Before long, the business had turned into a sprawling multinational conglomerate engaged in almost every conceivable aspect of criminal mayhem. Yachts carrying $100 million in cocaine. Safe houses in Hong Kong filled with gold bars. Shipments of methamphetamine from North Korea. Weapons deals with Iran. Mercenary armies in Somalia. Teams of hitmen in the Philippines. Encryption programs so advanced that the government could not break them.

The man behind it all, pulling the strings from a laptop in Manila, was Paul Calder Le Roux—a reclusive programmer turned criminal genius who could only exist in the networked world of the twenty-first century, and the kind of self-made crime boss that American law enforcement had never imagined.

For half a decade, DEA agents played a global game of cat-and-mouse with Le Roux as he left terror and chaos in his wake. Each time they came close, he would slip away. It would take relentless investigative work, and a shocking betrayal from within his organization, to catch him. And when he was finally caught, the story turned again, as Le Roux struck a deal to bring down his own organization and the people he had once employed.

Award-winning investigative journalist Evan Ratliff spent four years piecing together this intricate puzzle, chasing LeRoux's empire and his shadowy henchmen around the world, conducting hundreds of interviews and uncovering thousands of documents. The result is a riveting, unprecedented account of a crime boss built by and for the digital age.

“As directors, we spend countless hours imagining heightened plots and memorable characters that will leave a lasting impression on audiences. The true tale of obsession, genius, intrigue, and vengeance detailed in The Mastermind is as gripping and cinematic as anything we could endeavor to conjure up.”—Joe and Anthony Russo, directors of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, and Avengers: Infinity War

About Evan Ratliff

Evan Ratliff is an award-winning journalist and the author of The Mastermind: Drugs, Empire, Murder, Betrayal, about the 21st century’s most ambitious criminal cartel and the programming genius behind it (coming in 2019 from Random House). The story is also being adapted into a television series by the Russo Brothers, Noah Hawley, and Skybound. His writing also appears in Wired, The New Yorker, and other magazines. Evan was previously the cofounder and editor in chief of Atavist and the The Atavist Magazine, acquired by Automattic in 2018. On the side, he cohosts the acclaimed Longform Podcast, and was the founding story editor of Pop-Up Magazine.

Website | Twitter